


Hardcore Mode

by goosebxrry



Category: Dream Team - Fandom
Genre: :(, @toonbuffoon on tumblr, Angst with no happy ending, M/M, Poor Dream, angst / whump / hurt, anyway enjoy, but i think it worked out well, hardcore mode angst, i actually do feel a little bad, i actually got this from a tumblr post, oh god thats a lot of angst, their art slaps, they drew up this idea and i was Hit with Inspiration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:01:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24957295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goosebxrry/pseuds/goosebxrry
Summary: It was just a another speedrun challenge, but it went so horribly wrong.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 135





	Hardcore Mode

**Author's Note:**

> so. i saw this post on tumblr by toonbuffoon
> 
> (https://toonbuffoon.tumblr.com/post/621835876326146048/dream-is-the-type-to-shush-you-as-hes-literally)
> 
> and literally i just. yeah inspiration as the tags said so.

It had just been a new challenge.

Both Dream and George had done countless speedruns, doing one in hardcore should be easy. Plus, as far as they knew, if you died you were just spat out into the limbo-like title-screen, right?

But after they created the world and were getting ready to start their game, that’s when Dream realized that no, if you died, that was it.

You were gone forever, no coming back. They couldn’t even leave the game, they couldn’t do anything but panic as night approached.

“We— Oh. We get an option to leave if we beat the game.” Dream showed George the little screen of code that was hovering in front of him. He blinked.

“Alright then, let’s get on with it.”

Maybe the faux confidence was to convince them both they could do this. Just like the countless times prior, the hundreds and hundreds of times they’d done it before. Hell, Dream had even beaten a world record for beating the game as quickly as possible.

So they started getting wood, getting stone and then iron and searching for lava.

Everything was going so smoothly. They arrived in the Nether and found a fortress— the universe was kind to them, and despite the Nether being in 1.16, a fortress was nearby.

They got their blaze rods, and albeit they both had a few nasty burns as they left, things were okay.

Then the all-too familiar sound of a wither skeleton running towards them made both boys jump. They broke into a run, blindly returning to their portal, not quite visible through the crimson forest’s red mist and thick ‘foliage’.

Dream was ahead, and George was keeping up well. They were almost there, almost off the nether brick bridges—

George let out a startled yell as he felt the stone blade slice his back, the effect of withering setting in.

But they both just about jumped the one block gap and were safe. The charred skeleton stomped angrily, as if daring them to come back and fight it. Both George and Dream caught their breath, shaking, well out of reach.

They weren’t usually so easily spooked.

“George, you okay?” Dream placed a hand on his back, and he winced. The wound stung, and the withering feeling that rushed through his veins wasn’t helping. He felt light-headed, the thick air of the Nether making his lungs struggle.

He felt a gold-plated apple being pressed into his hand— oh yeah. The dungeon.

It probably saved him, he realized, as his hearts began to reappear in the corner of his vision with the help of the apple and were a lot lower than he even wanted to think about.

“Let’s go back, we got what we needed.” Dream said, and he nodded. They started walking back.

Now, the update was new. They were smart enough to be wearing gold helmets, but not informed enough to be wary nonetheless. As far as their knowledge went, Hoglins didn’t exist.

And quickly were they proved wrong. They could see the portal, walking side-by-side, when Dream suddenly was flung forward with a deafening, agonized, scream. George twirled around, drawing his sword and stabbing the hog in a panicked haze of adrenaline and terror— luckily, the beast wasn’t focused on him, but the wet coughing noise Dream made only sent George down a landslide of horror.

He dragged his friend through the portal, hands shaking and knees threatening to give in on him, and only after they were on cool grass and under a blue sky did he even dare look at Dream’s injury.

From the looks of it, he’d been impaled by the tusk.

George kneeled next to him, shakily ultra-violently as he wiped blood from the corner of Dream’s mouth, the cracked mask revealing a glimpse of his friend’s watery xanadu eyes, wide with pain.

“George—“

“It— no, it’s fine, you’ll be fine, just eat something so you can—“

Dream tried to speak again, but all he managed to do was spit up blood that dripped down his chin. George whimpered as he searched haphazardly through his backpack, trying to find something to ease Dream’s pain and restore his hearts.

This was bad. Why had he accepted that apple? Dream needed that apple, they’d only found one, how could he have been so selfish—

He shoved a loaf of bread into Dream’s hand, his vision blurring through repressed tears. His friend dropped the bread and just clutched his side with a soft gasp of pain as he shifted to move it to his mouth.

He seemed to come to some sort of epiphany, watching as his sweater turned an ugly shade of crimson.

“Dream, eat it, you need to—“

“It’s alright, Georgie,” Dream’s voice was quiet, but George shut up as soon as he opened his unnaturally red mouth. He shook his head vigorously with a choked sob.

“Dream, stop it!”

Dream wearily shushed him, reaching out to comfortingly caress his cheek, smearing blood down the side of his face. “I’m okay,”

“N-No, you’re _dying _,” George let his closest friend, his oldest friend, the person he spent hours with and trusted and _loved _continue to stroke his face, as if they were okay, as if this was fine on any level.____

____“It’ll be alright,” Dream whispered, and for a moment George wished he could just listen and get lost in the wonderful fantasy Dream trying to create for him._ _ _ _

____But now there was too much blood seeping through the green material of his sweater, and he was choking on it, too._ _ _ _

____And George was absolutely useless._ _ _ _

____So he just cupped Dream’s face, tears streaming down his face, as he whispered the same three words over and over again._ _ _ _

____“I’m so sorry...”_ _ _ _

____And Dream just chuckled, the usually crisp and lovable sound horridly wet and pained, pulling George down and pressing a terribly metallic kiss to George’s lips. He got no resistance._ _ _ _

____“Haha,” He smiled when they parted, “You... love... me,”_ _ _ _

____George sobbed again._ _ _ _

____“Of course I love you, Dream, you know that,”_ _ _ _

____He desperately yearned for a reaction, maybe a chortle and a snort or a triumphant laugh. Anything. Even a smile would have been good enough._ _ _ _

____But no, instead Dream just lost whatever remaining light in his eyes and sank to the grass as far as George’s trembling arms would let him, a final shuddering breath rattling in his chest as he lost his grip on life. George screamed, shaking his body desperately, but got to reply._ _ _ _

____Nothing._ _ _ _

____And maybe it would have been nice if the game changed for the harsh gamemode, allowing the player’s body to remain— it wasn’t like they were going to be needing it, so at least George had time to mourn. But almost seconds after Dream stopped responding, his physical body was gone, too._ _ _ _

____And George was left alone, sobbing, tears dripping onto his now empty arms, items scattered across the landscape. Little experience orbs were absorbed through his shoes, the pleasant sound too happy for the situation._ _ _ _

____And when he checked the player list, a final act as he refused to believe that Dream was gone, truely gone, his name stood in solidarity._ _ _ _

____He was the only one online, after all._ _ _ _

**Author's Note:**

> ahahahah i hope you enjoyed have a lovely mernin/evening/night!


End file.
